Somchit & Nin - husband and wife team members.
We talk a lot in our blogs about the work we do with the local community here in Laos, but this week our story is much closer to home. This time, we wanted to share some exciting news about Nin and Somchit who are a husband and wife working with us here at the dairy. Somchit is our Deputy Farm Manager, and Nin works tirelessly every day taking care of our buffalo, including being a talented administer of vaccinations. They have a 3-year old son, who lives with Nin’s parents in Luang Prabang, who they go and visit every Wednesday on their day off. When speaking with each of them, it is clear that what drives their dedication, motivation and hard work at the farm is a desire to support their son and give him opportunities in life that they didn’t have.
Nin and Somchit met while studying at high school and continued studying together at the Northern Agriculture and Forestry College, where they learnt the skills needed to work on our farm. In Laos, after having a baby, it is usual for the mother to stay at home and look after the child while the father goes to work. For the Laos women staying at home, this usually has the effect of ending their career prospects. However, Nin is different and hasn’t followed the crowd in this case. Being a smart couple, they saw the opportunity that both of them going to work, collecting two salaries and achieving a higher economic standing would mean for their family’s future.
The years of hard work paid off last month when Nin and Somchit invested in three buffalo on our farm: one mum aged 9 years old and two of her calves, aged almost 2 years and 4 months, now have two proud new owners. We know Nin and Somchit are looking to save as much money as they can for their son’s future. So, why decide to invest their hard-earned money in three buffalo on our farm? Here are the reasons they invested:
Buffalo Care - On our farm, we provide the highest level of care for buffalo in all of Laos. We have a team of experts, many of whom have received expert training to enhance their skills further both here in Laos and Thailand.
We feed our buffalo approximately 30 kilos of food every day, they are never tied up, and the mum and the baby can spend all day together. Our buffalo go out to pasture every morning, and we even do their nails once a month! We are; part buffalo dairy, part buffalo spa.
Buffalo Health - Any buffalo that stay on our farm spend one month in quarantine, where they are tested and vaccinated against all the most common diseases here in Laos. We keep strict records for our buffalo so we know when they are due for more vaccinations. We also keep track of dads; buffalo on our farm that leave pregnant have records of who the expectant father is so we can help to avoid the inbreeding that has long been a problem here in Laos. Buffalo are checked for pregnancy and closely monitored for any abnormalities that could cause them problems in the future.
Buffalo rental - The core of our business model is to rent buffalo from local farmers, providing them with a brand new source of income. In this case, those local farmers are Nin and Somchit. While their buffalo are on the farm, we are paying to feed, care for and milk them. The buffalo stay with us because their home village is too far away. Eventually, the sale of the male buffalo will provide extra income, which supports their family’s future.
Nin and Somchit saw an opportunity by investing in our farm, and they’ve worked here long enough to understand the importance of the work we do for the local community. They know that the female buffalo they bought will be strong and healthy and that her two calves will have the best chance to reach adulthood. In the villages, 45% of calves die in their first six months, while on our farm the figure is less than 5%. Calves on our farm are much more likely to be strong and healthy compared to those in the villages. The investment Nin and Somchit have made means that when their son is older and wants to go to school, Nin and Somchit will have at least three, if not more, fully grown healthy buffalo. They can sell one of these to support their son’s education.
We are incredibly proud of how hard Nin and Somchit have worked to get where they are today, and for the trust put in our farm as a way to invest in their family’s future.
Mekong Experience Showcase
Saturday was the final day of voting for the Mekong Collective 2020. We want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who voted for our farm! The whole team appreciates that during these difficult times, you took the time to support us here at the dairy. Watch out for our update about the results!
Almost 10,000 people voted! The winners will be announced live at the Virtual Destination Mekong Summit on 25 August.
If you would like to participate in this, you can register for free at https://www.destinationmekong.com/dms2020/. You can learn all about the Mekong Tourism COVID updates and see about the future of tourism here in SouthEast Asia.
TOURISM IN NEED
COVID-19 has badly affected tourism and visits to the farm. In order to mitigate some of the effects of the loss of income this has meant for the dairy, we have teamed up with the Tourism in Need initiative that supports responsible tourism organizations affected by the pandemic. Through this initiative, travelers can support the dairy through the Give Today, Go Tomorrow fundraising scheme. Click here to find out more and to make a contribution to help us to pay farmers and team members, and continue to train farmers and work on our nutrition program.
